BlackBerry Partners Fund Announces Jump Start Program

The BlackBerry Partners Fund LP announced today that it has launched a Jump Start Financing Initiative. The Jump Start initiative provides entrepreneurs with capital infusions of up to $250,000. The funding initiative is designed to bring new and innovative ideas into the development process faster allowing entrepreneurs to focus on building great smartphone applications instead of raising seed capital.

Rick Segal of the BlackBerry Partners Fund is jacked about the simplicity of the new Jump Start program:

We believe there are tons of great ideas which, if given some small amounts of capital, might evolve into a killer business. We want to be that source of capital. We, being the BlackBerry Partners Fund. You can read about the program here but generally it is a convertible debenture which bears interest for 18 months. We convert at a discount to the next round of financing or, if there is no funding, we convert into the existing shares of the company. We take a board seat and roll up our sleeves to help get the idea/prototype to the next stage.

We've tried to make this program easy. Simple terms, simple paperwork, etc.

Entrepreneurs interested in the Jump Start Funding Initiative should can find out more here.